Michigan

Three alleged counterfeiters laundered small bills

HASTINGS -- A trio of counterfeiters likely planned to continue a spree of spending fake $10 and $20 bills, judging by the $830 of bogus bills found in a bag after police stopped their car this week in Middleville.

Investigators believe two men and a woman stopped at stores in Kentwood, Wayland and Hastings, buying small items worth less than $2 to get legitimate bills as change.

They were able to launder money, perhaps $120 worth, in that manner, said Michigan State Police Trooper Phil Vannette of the Hastings post.

After their arrest Monday, all three were arraigned Tuesday in Barry County District Court on charges of uttering and publishing counterfeit bills. They are Reginald Aldridge, 34, and Ronald Fowkes, 20, both of Kentwood, and Monique Bourque, 32, of Comstock Park.

Police believe they scanned real bills on a home copier and simply printed the fake money with an ink-jet printer. The bogus bills looked surprisingly realistic, except the paper was heavier and smoother and they contained no watermark or other security features, police said.

"If you saw it setting on a counter, you might not know until you look at it closer," Vannette said.

Hastings Police Deputy Chief Mike Leedy agreed.

"I looked at them. At first blush, they look like a real $10 bill," he said.

While sales receipts found in their car showed they apparently passed fake bills successfully in Kentwood and Wayland, a clerk at a store in Hastings took down a description of the two men and their vehicle after he became suspicious of their money. That clerk called police, and the car was stopped an hour later in Middleville.

In Hastings, the suspects passed counterfeit bills at The Dollar Tree, Mancino's and Dollar General. At one of the stores, the men bought a pop.

"The (clerks) felt the money, but it didn't feel right. They held it up to the light, and the guys kind of scrammed out of there," Leedy said.

Police do not believe the three suspects are part of any larger crime ring, but simply trying to pull off a fairly simple scam.

"I think these people are basically thieves," Vannette said.

Leedy said counterfeiters like to hit fast-food drive-thrus, where workers often are younger, less experienced with handling money and might not be paying as close attention during busy times. Counterfeiters usually buy something cheap like a pop and, by the time the bogus bill is discovered, they are gone, he said.

"They just made $9 (on the $10 counterfeit bill). And got a free Coke," Leedy said.

Police say today's color printers are much better than printers a few years ago, making it possible to produce bills that can fool clerks at first glance.